Roster depth would be considered a luxury when the NFL draft evolves this weekend from Radio City Music Hall in New York. The Bengals have it.

Depth makes them dangerous in the fall. It makes them unpredictable in May. When the Bengals select at No. 24, no position would be considered off limits. The only position Marvin Lewis at any point said he wouldn't select in the first round is quarterback, but that will almost certainly be the first topic discussed when the Bengals go on the clock.

Much can and will happen with approximately two and a half hours of draft wheeling and dealing in front of them. Who will the Bengals choose? The scenarios are infinite.

"My boss, Mike Brown, he has a mock draft about every hour," Lewis said with a laugh. "He plays the devil's advocate constantly. And I think it's a good thing. 'If this guy is not available, if these players are all gone and we're looking at this pool of players, which player do you prefer and why?' That's the scenario you've got to go through."

The players to keep an eye on Thursday will begin with a run on cornerbacks. Corners Justin Gilbert of Oklahoma State and Darqueze Dennard of Michigan State would be ideal, if unlikely, fits should they slip down draft boards.

More likely would be the slip of a less premium position such as linebacker. Alabama's C.J. Mosley, UCLA's Anthony Barr and Ohio State's Ryan Shazier will be appetizing for teams in front of the Bengals, but should other positions of need pop up, one could make their way down to No. 24.

Shazier would be the most likely to arrive of that group.

"He is a little bit undersized," said Rob Rang, lead draft analyst for CBSSports.com and NFLDraftScout.com. "I don't know that he necessarily is an ideal fit of the teams who run a 3-4 defense. I certainly believe he is among the top defensive players in this draft class. If he is available to the Bengals I believe he absolutely should be among the prospects they should be considering. I think he'd be an ideal fit as a weak-side linebacker in the 4-3."

Another element of unpredictability would be the possibility of trades. Steelers GM Kevin Colbert called this class as deep across the board as any he'd seen in the last 30 years. Combine depth with the allure of a possible 10 quarterbacks selected in the first three rounds, and teams could be more willing to move.

More importantly for the Bengals, if the QB-needy teams in the top of the draft don't select from Blake Bortles (Central Florida) or Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M), instead hoping to grab Jimmy Garrappolo (Eastern Illinois), Derek Carr (Fresno State), Tom Savage (Pittsburgh) or a possibly free-falling Teddy Bridgewater (Louisville) during a run on the second-tier quarterbacks, Cincinnati could become a willing partner to move back while adding valuable picks in the third or fourth round.

A trade wouldn't be out of character. Two years ago, Cincinnati traded out of the No. 21 hole with New England to select guard Kevin Zeitler at No. 27. Lewis also traded back twice in 2004. The rules of the new collective bargaining agreement make staying in the first round instead of early in the second advantageous because the fifth-year option on first-round picks allows an extra year of club control.

As for the rumor surfacing on ESPN this week about the Bengals discussing Bridgewateras a fallback option in the first round, don't bet on it. In the smokescreen silly season, anybody feeling they need to trade up in front of Cincinnati to grab him would mean one more player sliding into the Bengals' lap. Selecting Bridgewater would go against everything both the Bengals and Andy Dalton have said over the last few months.

But in the unpredictable world of the Bengals' draft options, little can be ruled out completely. All Lewis and Brown know is they're prepared for whatever scenario plays out.

"It's important for Mike and I to be always on the same page that way, and I feel like we are," Lewis said. "He knows how I feel. We've discussed it … and we'll discuss it again in the room (during the draft). But he knows how I feel, and whatever pick we turn in, we'll make him the best player he can be."